This invention relates in general to seats, such as are commonly provided in vehicles. In particular, this invention relates to an improved structure and method for pivotably supporting an armrest on a seat.
Seats in vehicles and other environments are commonly provided with one or more armrests to facilitate the comfort of an occupant of the seat. In many instances, the armrest is pivotably supported on a back of a seat so that it may be moved between a retracted position, wherein the armrest extends generally parallel to the back of the seat to facilitate ingress and egress thereto, and an extended position, wherein the armrest extends generally perpendicular to the back of the seat for use by the occupant of the seat. It has been found desirable to support the armrest on the seat in such a manner that a generally uniform and constant force can be used to move the armrest between the retracted and extended positions. Additionally, it has been found desirable to support the armrest on the seat in such a manner that it is capable of handling any laterally directed forces that may be applied thereto, such as by a person who is using the armrest as a handle to get into or out of the seat.
Typically, one or more Belleville or wave washers have been used to apply an axial load on the armrest, which functions to maintain the armrest in a desired position until affirmatively moved by the occupant of the seat to another position. Although these structures have functioned effectively, an undesirably large amount of variation in the amount of the axial load applied thereby can occur as a result of tolerance stack-up. Also, when a laterally directed force is applied to the armrest, the armrest may undesirably move in the lateral direction. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved structure for an armrest that avoids these issues.